Allergic to Fun
by Haronione
Summary: The Marauders are holding an end of year party, but not everyone is happy about it. Do they not realise there's only a week until the exams? It seems certain people are allergic to fun... or are they?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Invitations and Unwanted Interventions**

The sound reverberated around the near-empty library as Lily Evans slammed the heavy book closed. Sighing in frustration, she laid her head facedown onto the book, willing herself not to cry. There were only seven days until the end-of-year exams and Lily was beginning to panic. She was never going to understand or remember the complex human transfiguration spells they had been learning this year, and it was bound to come up in the exam.

Why on earth had she decided to take Transfiguration at NEWT level? She hadn't been that good at it last year and had only just scraped an E on her OWL for this particular subject. Now she thought about it, why on earth had McGonagall _allowed_ her to take Transfiguration at NEWT level? The woman must be crazy, Lily thought, or maybe just a tad sadistic. Surely she would have known that Lily was not up to the intensely hard spells that sixth year Transfiguration would bring.

It was Sunday evening and Lily had spent the entire weekend revising, mainly for transfiguration, and now she was exhausted. It was almost curfew time. Thankfully Lily didn't have prefect duties this evening so she decided that maybe she needed a break from the books and have an early night. Her mother had always told her that a good night's sleep made everything seem so much better and Lily hoped this was true because she didn't think she could feel much worse at the moment. So, she packed up her books, notes and quill and slouched out of the deserted library feeling dejected.

Luckily, Lily knew the route from the library to Gryffindor tower like the back of her hand and she wandered through the corridors in a daze. If she'd had to think about where she was going she would never had made her way back as her head was full of jumbled up incantations and wand movements that made no sense to her. When she reached the Gryffindor common room she couldn't recall her journey from the library at all.

Lily didn't stop in the common room to say hello to her friends and made her way straight up the staircase to her dormitory. Dumping her belongings in her trunk, Lily threw herself onto the bed and sighed again, trying to empty her mind of thoughts of the upcoming exams, knowing that she'd never get to sleep tonight otherwise.

She hadn't been laid on the bed for long before Lucinda bounded into the dormitory followed less enthusiastically by Alison and Clara. Lily sighed inwardly at the premature interruption of her peace.

'Lily! Where have you been?' Lucinda demanded excitedly, jumping onto Lily's bed next to her. 'I have been dying to tell you my news!'

'What news?' Lily wasn't sure she was up to hearing whatever it was that had got Lucinda so excited. She pulled herself into a sitting position, hugged her knees to her chest and looked over at Lucinda with what she hoped was an interested expression anyway.

'Have you heard that the Marauders are holding an end of year party?' Lucinda's face lit up even more at her mention of the Marauders.

'That's hardly news, Lucinda.' Lily stated, rolling her eyes. She instantly decided that she really _didn't_ feel up to hearing anymore of Lucinda's news. She had heard enough about the Marauders' party and she hadn't particularly liked hearing about it then.

'I told you she wouldn't be interested, Luce.' Alison scoffed, still standing in the doorway to the dormitory, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger. 'Come on, let's go back to the common room, Lily's probably got work to do.'

Lily ignored the scathing look and mocking voice of her roommate and supposed friend. That had always been the best way to deal with Alison when she got into one of her moods, which was surprisingly often these days.

Lucinda glared at Alison before turning back to Lily with a glint in her eye. 'That's obviously not my news, everyone knows about the party! My news is _far _more exciting.' Lucinda was now practically jumping up and down, cross legged on Lily's bed.

'Spit it out then, before you spontaneously combust.' Lily couldn't help but smile at how happy her friend seemed despite her own dejected mood.

'Guess who asked me to the party?'

'Who?' Lily asked, already knowing the answer. There was only one boy at Hogwarts who was able to get Lucinda this worked up. 'Not...'

'Yes! The one and only Sirius Black!' Lucinda squealed at this point, grabbing Lily's hands, extracting them from the vice like grip they had around her knees, and now actually started bouncing up and down on the bed.

'That's fantastic Luce!' Lily stated, not really feeling the excitement. She had never understood Lucinda's obsession with Black, an obsession she'd had since second year that had escalated dramatically with each passing year. In Lily's eyes Sirius Black was just another arrogant, conceited, childish, idiotic, prank-pulling, uncaring, selfish prat. Just like his best friend Potter. Lucinda was obviously oblivious to this side of Black though, she had been sucked in by his good looks and charm.

In all honesty, Lily was some-what surprised to hear that Black had asked Lucinda to the party. For four years Lucinda had done all in her power to try and make Black notice her, and not once had he acknowledged her as more than a fellow Gryffindor. There had to be an alternative reason for this invitation. Instantly Lily felt bad for thinking this. Her best friend was wonderful, and any guy would be lucky to date her. Maybe Black had suddenly had a change of heart and did genuinely like Lucinda. Yes, this was the line Lily had to go with, she had to be supportive of her friend.

'I know! It's the best news _ever!_' Lucinda swooned. 'When you left after dinner he pulled me aside to ask me. He was gazing at me with those beautiful grey eyes. I thought my legs were going to give way when he told me I _had _to come to the party. And then, when he walked off to join the others he had a huge grin on his face and gave them the thumbs up. Oh Lily, I knew he loved me really, he must have just been too shy to ask me out before.'

Lily couldn't help but snort at this statement. 'Shy?! Sirius? I don't think so Luce. Those two words do not belong in the same sentence.'

'Well, whatever, I don't care, he's asked me now and that's all I'm concerned about.' Lucinda let go of Lily's hands and rolled on to her back on Lily's bed, a dazed look on her face.

'He did look rather pleased with himself.' Clara affirmed, speaking for the first time since they'd entered the dormitory.

'So did the rest of the Marauders.' Alison stated, leaving her position in the doorway and shutting the door noisily.

'Hey! They're my sweets!' Clara stated as Alison swiped a box of Every Flavour beans from Clara's night stand as she passed on her way to her bed. Alison simply smiled in a falsely sweet way. Clara scowled at Alison as she said to the group at large, 'Now you mention it, Peter did seem overly excited about it.'

'Maybe it was a dare. You know what they're like.'

'Don't be so pessimistic, Alison.' Lily scolded, even though she thought Alison's statement could very well be true. Lily just didn't want Lucinda to start worrying about things like that. If Lucinda got it into her head that it was a dare she would blow it with Sirius, and if he did actually like her Lucinda would be devastated to lose her one chance with him. Lily may not think Sirius was worthy of Lucinda but if he could make her happy then she would not interfere.

'Just putting the idea out there,' Alison said, casually lounging back on her bed across the dormitory from Lily and Lucinda.

'She's just jealous, Lils, 'cause no-one's asked her to the party.' Lucinda stated, seemingly unconcerned by her friend's theory.

'As if,' was all Alison said in reply, throwing a green Every Flavour bean at Lucinda.

'So, Lily, you're going to come, aren't you?' Lucinda stated rather than asked, popping the green bean in her mouth.

'Not a chance!' Lily replied instantly, shaking her head.

'Oh, Lily, you have to come. I'm going to need the moral support!' Lucinda practically begged.

'Luce, it is the weekend before the end-of-year exams!' Lily exclaimed. 'The first of which is Transfiguration, and you know how bad I am at that. Nope, sorry, I'll be spending the weekend revising. Alison and Clara will be there to give you moral support.'

'Lils!' Lucinda whined. 'Please, for me.'

'I wouldn't waste your breath, Luce. Lily won't come. She's allergic to fun.' Alison laughed tauntingly, throwing another Berty Botts Every Flavour Bean, this time at Lily, causing Clara to moan at the wasting of her sweets. Alison rolled her eyes, popped a handful of beans in her mouth then chucked the box across the dormitory to Clara.

'I am not!' Lily said defensively, hurt evident on her face. 'I am just averse to breaking rules, which this party most definitely will, and failing exams, which I most certainly will if I don't revise. Not all of us can ace our exams without having to put in an ounce of effort like Potter and Black do. I think it is totally selfish and irresponsible of them to hold a party so close to the exams. It's just bloody typical of them!'

Lily could feel her anger rising. She was aware that she was potentially spoiling her best friend's happy mood, but she couldn't stop herself. Those boys irritated her too much to hold her anger back. And to be told by her friend that she was no fun was just downright hurtful and mean. Just because she wanted to do well in her exams did not mean she didn't know how to have fun. Getting drunk and watching the Marauders show off and pull pranks was not her idea of fun. Besides, she was a prefect and attending an unauthorised party was not appropriate.

'That's it, Lily!' Lucinda exclaimed happily, sitting up suddenly, obviously unconcerned by Lily's outburst. 'Who's the best student in our year at Transfiguration?'

Lily looked at Lucinda perplexed. Was she just trying to make her feel worse, hadn't she just been complaining about how bad she was at Transfiguration. Did she really need to debate who the best student in the year was. No, she did not!

'James!' Lucinda answered her own question. 'And who do we know that would do anything to get the great Lily Evans to notice him and be nice to him?'

Again Lily didn't answer, simply raising her eyebrows. So Lucinda answered her own question again. 'James Potter!'

'What has that got to do anything?' Lily asked perplexed at where this was leading.

'Merlin, Lily, I thought you were supposed to be intelligent!' Lucinda stated jokingly. 'My plan is simple. James could help you with your Transfiguration revision, and then you can come to the party with me without having to worry about the exam on Monday!'

'And how exactly are you going to convince James to help Lily?' Alison asked, sounding even grumpier than she had previously. 'She has never had a nice word to say to or about him, and this past year he has stopped pining over her and asking her out every other day. He's well over Lily, he's moved on!'

'Whatever! He's just trying different tactics to win Lily over. I've seen the lovesick look in his eyes every time he so much as glances at Lily. I'm going to go and ask him!' Lucinda jumped up from the bed with a huge grin.

'Luce, no!' Lily begged. 'What have I ever done to you? Are you trying to torture me? You want me to willingly spend all week with Potter _trying_ to learn Transfiguration – which, by the way, I'm wondering why you think James will succeed where McGonagall hasn't? – And then you want me to spend more time with him at a party I don't want to go to! I thought you were my friend, Lucinda!'

'I am your friend. You'll thank me for this one day Lily Evans! Trust me.'

Before Lily could stop her Lucinda had hurried excitedly out of the room, followed by an apologetic looking Clara and a stroppy looking Alison. Great, don't I have the best friends in the whole wide world, Lily thought sarcastically.

Hurriedly changing for bed, Lily couldn't help hoping that Lucinda would not be able to find Potter. As much as she agreed with Alison that he had seemingly given up on her and moved on, she couldn't help thinking that there was also some truth in what Lucinda had said. Maybe he was just trying different tactics to win her over. If this was true he would take this proposal to tutor her as a sign that his tactics were working. And the last thing Lily needed right now was Potter to start pestering her again. Lily climbed into her bed and put the pillow over her head, hoping this would miraculously stop her from thinking about how Lucinda's conversation with Potter was going. It didn't work, unsurprisingly. Lily was never going to get to sleep now.

This next week was going to be a complete nightmare!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Revelations and Arrangements**

'I can't believe you've done this to me, Luce,' Lily complained as they headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning.

Lily had pretended to be fast asleep when the others had returned to the dormitory the previous evening. She hadn't been very convincing though and Lucinda had been more than aware that Lily was actually wide awake, and most likely fuming. So Lucinda had waited until this morning to inform her friend that James Potter had been more than happy to help Lily with her Transfiguration revision. As Lucinda had expected, Lily was not overly impressed with her.

'What? Trying to help you to improve in Transfiguration? You're right, I am a total monster and I should be ashamed of myself,' Lucinda giggled, linking her arm through Lily's.

'You know as well as I do, Lucinda, that this is not an effort entirely based on helping me with my school work!' Lily chided.

'I really have no idea what you mean, Miss Evans,' Lucinda replied with a smirk.

Lily raised her eyebrows sceptically at her friend. Ever since third year when James had first started showing an interest in Lily, Lucinda had done her best to convince Lily to date him. She had always stated that it was because they would make such a lovely couple, that they belonged together, but Lily suspected that it had more to do with the fact that it would assist Lucinda in her plight to get Sirius's attention. Of course, Lucinda would deny this till the Hippogriffs came home, and would probably be offended that Lily could think such a thing of her. Lily knew she was being very cynical about Lucinda's intentions regarding James Potter but, as she really could not see what would make her and Potter a 'lovely couple', it was either that or her friend was completely deluded or Confunded. Maybe she should have her checked out by Madam Pomfrey?

They continued their walk to breakfast in companionable silence, Lily not wanting to discuss (or think about) the tutoring any further and Lucinda not wanting to push her luck with an already stressed Lily. Once in the Great Hall they joined Alison and Clara at the Gryffindor table. Alison had wanted to be there when Lucinda told Lily what she'd done – she had envisioned raised tempers and hexes being thrown and had wanted to be witness to it. But Clara had thought it better to leave them to it and so had insisted that Alison join her for breakfast. They both knew how Lily could over-react to things when she was stressed, and while Alison enjoyed seeing these outbursts, finding them amusing, Clara hated seeing her usually calm and unflustered friend in such a state.

'You're still alive then, Lucinda?' Alison asked looking Lucinda up and down for signs of damage. 'You don't appear to be maimed or injured either. Did you actually tell her?'

'Of course I did! I told you she wouldn't be that angry... because deep down she knows it is a good idea.' Lucinda smiled to herself as she sat down and poured herself a large bowl of bran flakes.

'Don't push it, Luce, I've not totally ruled out hexing you! And besides, just because Potter has agreed to tutor me doesn't mean I've agreed to let him.' Lily gave Lucinda a pointed look before tucking into her breakfast.

'James really is a great teacher, you know. I think you'd be mad to turn the offer down,' Clara stated earnestly.

All three girls paused in what they were doing to look at Clara, each of them with a look of total surprise on their faces.

'How do you know he's a good teacher?' Alison asked rather sharply.

'He helped me with Transfiguration a few times last year. It really helped with my O.W.L.'

'But you got an O on your Transfiguration O.W.L!'

'Exactly!' Clara grinned meaningfully at Lily.

'How did we not know about this before?' Lucinda asked, still flabbergasted, staring at Clara with an open mouth.

'Well, Lily was at the peak of her Potter hatred, she was even more averse to him then than she is now. I just thought it better to keep it to myself.' Clara shrugged then turned to Lily, 'You really should take him up on the offer, Lils.'

Shocked, Lily said, 'I'll think about it.'

And she did think about it, all through breakfast, while Lucinda interrogated Clara about her revelation and Alison sat silently with a look on her face that looked like she'd been sucking on a particularly sour lemon. Lily had wondered how Clara had managed to improve so much in Transfiguration, and now she was left wondering whether it had in fact been down to the help of James Potter or whether that was just coincidence. Clara seemed quite sure that it wasn't coincidence. Could she really pass up an opportunity to improve in Transfiguration? Would it really be _so_ bad to spend more time with Potter if it meant she would get better grades? While Transfiguration wasn't an explicit requirement to get onto the Healer course she wanted to attend after graduation, it would certainly help her application.

Lily was still deep in thought when the other girls got up to make their way to their first class of the day. She leant down to retrieve her bag from under the table, but it wasn't by her feet where she had put it. Fumbling around under the table trying to locate it she called to the girls to wait for her. Finally she located her bag – somehow it had wound up under the bench half way down the other side of the table. Tutting and mumbling, brushing the dust off her bag, Lily poked her head back up from under the table expecting to see her friends.

But her friends were nowhere to be seen, and where they had been only moments before stood James Potter.

'You ok, Lily, you look a bit flustered,' James asked kindly, grinning as Lily readjusted her robes and flattened her hair.

'I'm fine thank you,' Lily replied tersely, 'just wondering where my friends have run off to.'

'Well,' James started, ignoring Lily's less than friendly manner, 'Lucinda went off to double Herbology with Peter. The others are heading down to Potions. I said I'd wait for you, I thought we could discuss our tutoring sessions as I walked you to class.'

Lily stared at James for a moment, unsure how to respond. Part of her wanted to tell James where to stuff his tutoring sessions, that she didn't need them, that she was coping perfectly fine with Transfiguration. She didn't want people knowing that she was struggling, especially the likes of Potter. But, she also knew that without some help she was going to fail her end-of-year exams, and it wasn't in her nature to fail! Weighing it up in her mind, she realised that accepting the help of Potter was probably the lesser of the two evils here. Lily swallowed her pride and made her decision. She just hoped he was as good as Clara made him out to be.

'That's very kind of you, Potter,' Lily said finding the words almost sticking in her throat as she said them, trying to sound sincere rather than sarcastic; the words seemed foreign to her considering who she was saying them to. She couldn't decide whether James was actually being kind or whether there was an ulterior motive for this offer. Lily guessed she had to give him the benefit of the doubt - for now, anyway.

'You're welcome, Lily, anything to help a friend,' James replied in the same formal manner in which Lily was talking. James found it rather odd to speaking so formally, it felt unnatural, and he could see that Lily felt the same way. But this was the first civil conversation he and Lily had ever had and James was not going to blow it, this was his chance to show Lily how great he was. James led the way out of the almost empty Great Hall with Lily following just behind. 'So, what will work best for you, Lily? I am pretty much free whenever now that Quidditch has finished, but I know you probably have a revision time table set up and prefect duties to fulfil, so I can fit sessions in around you.'

Lily was taken aback by James's supportive attitude and his use of the word friend; they weren't friends and never had been. Maybe James had been Confunded too, she thought. 'What about your revision?' Lily asked, even though she already knew the answer – she had never known James to take exams seriously and had never seen him revising. It really did make her mad that someone could be so good without putting in an ounce of effort. Maybe that was just jealousy though, Lily begrudgingly admitted to herself.

'Don't you worry about that, I'll have plenty of spare time to prepare for my exams. Helping you with Transfiguration will be helping me too.' James stated earnestly as he led the way down the stairs to the dungeons. 'So, are you free this evening after dinner? I could ask McGonagall if we can use an empty classroom, I'm sure she wouldn't mind.'

'What's wrong with using the common room?' Lily questioned brusquely, feeling irrationally panicky at the thought of being alone with James in an empty classroom at night.

'Do you really think the noise and atmosphere in the common room is conducive to a productive revision session?' James raised one eyebrow at Lily and, having a good idea of why Lily might be opposed to his idea, he resisted the urge to smirk. 'I assure you my intentions are honourable.'

'I never said they weren't,' Lily snapped feeling her checks flush slightly.

'No, but you were thinking it, Lily,' James replied, the smirk he had been trying to withhold creeping onto his face at the sight of Lily blushing. Luckily they had reached the Potions classroom and James was able to hide his expression from Lily as he turned away from her and pushed the door open. He was quite sure Lily would not appreciate his amusement at the situation and he could not risk making her mad. 'Meet me in the common room at six thirty, okay.'

James held the door open for Lily to enter the classroom but still didn't look at her. Letting go of the door he made his way to Sirius and Remus at the back of the classroom with a grin plastered on his face. Flustered, Lily settled into her seat next to Clara at the front of the classroom, still blushing.

The day passed by far too quickly for Lily, and before she knew it dinner was over and she was back in her dormitory gathering her books for her tutoring session. She had not seen James since their chat before Potions and she was becoming a bit nervous about their meeting this evening, although she wasn't sure why.

'Why don't you come with me, Luce? _You_ can give _me_ some moral support!' Lily asked as she hunted for her wand, which she was sure she had put down on the bed just moments before.

'Sorry, no can do, Lily,' Lucinda answered. 'I can't stand Transfiguration. Now, if it was Sirius who was teaching you... that would be different.'

'Can you not think of anything else?' Lily picked up a pillow to throw at Lucinda but abandoned that idea as she spied the tip of her wand sticking out from under the second pillow. Dropping the pillow onto the bed, Lily grabbed the wand and stashed it into the waistband of her skirt.

'Of course I can! I was just saying that Sirius could make Transfiguration a lot more interesting,' Lucinda replied, a suggestive look on her face, 'especially if he had his shirt off! Or even better, if he was nak...'

'Oh yes, that's really just proved that your mind isn't stuck on Sirius... or in the gutter,' Lily interrupted with a laugh. 'You really have got it bad.'

'I have indeed,' Lucinda replied with a sigh. 'Now, stop judging me and go. James will be waiting for you; it'd be rude to keep him waiting.'

'Okay, okay, I'm going.' Lily pulled her hair back into a rough ponytail before picking up the books from her bed. 'Are you sure you won't come with me?'

'Nope, I have plans myself this evening.'

'You do?' Lily asked, intrigued, pausing in the dormitory doorway. 'Ooh, is it a pre-date date with Sirius? Is that why you have that dreamy, love-struck expression on your face?'

'I do not have a 'dreamy expression' on my face. And no it is not a pre-date date with Sirius. I have a study session with Peter, if you must know.'

'Cheating on Sirius before you've even had your date?' Lily mocked with a fake gasp, 'and with one of his friends as well.'

'I am not cheating on Sirius. It's just a revision session, the same as yours with James. I don't know what you plan to do in a revision session that would constitute 'cheating' but I will purely be revising.' Lucinda said sticking out her tongue, enjoying winding Lily up. 'If you must know, Peter said it was Sirius's idea. Apparently Peter was worrying about how far behind he was with his Herbology revision last night so Sirius told him he should stop moaning and ask someone to help him. Since I'm the only other Gryffindor taking Herbology, and we've been sitting next to each other all year, Peter thought he would ask me. I'm actually looking forward to it, Peter's quite funny, you know.'

'Is he? I've never really spoken to him,' Lily replied truthfully. Peter was the quietest member of the Marauders and Lily had never had reason to speak to him in the six years they had been at Hogwarts. 'You looking forward to it has nothing to do with the fact that he is Sirius's best friend and you can grill him for information, then get him to go back to Sirius and tell him how wonderful you are?'

'Well, there is that bonus to it,' Lucinda grinned. 'But Sirius obviously already knows how wonderful I am! Now stop procrastinating and go and meet James, you're late now!'

'Alright! I'm going,' Lily stated with a loud sigh. Her nervousness about tonight's revision had dissipated while she had been teasing Lucinda, but now it was back worse than before and she still couldn't understand why. 'Wish me luck!'

'Good luck,' Lucinda called cheerfully as Lily left the dormitory.


	3. Chapter 3

**3. Tutoring and Wagers**

Lily pulled the dormitory door closed behind her and gently leant back onto it, momentarily closing her eyes. What was she doing? Why had she let herself be talked in to this? Okay, so Clara had claimed that Potter was a fantastic teacher and had helped her go from an A to an O in Transfiguration, but that did not mean he'd be able to help her. Potter had not had a three year long crush on Clara, had not hounded her at every given opportunity. Would he be able to forget about his crush on her during these sessions? What if she had just unwillingly given Potter permission to start harassing her again? She had never been on her own with Potter before and now she was worried he would see this as the perfect opportunity to flirt with her, and Merlin only knows what else.

Lily shook her head to rid it of those thoughts and took a deep, calming breath. Potter had stated that his intentions were honourable (Lily grinned to herself as she recalled his choice of words) and she had to give him the chance to prove that. Lily told herself that if the session started taking a turn for the worse she could always leave, it's not like she'd be locked in the room with him, she would be free to leave whenever she liked.

With that thought firmly in her mind, Lily made her way slowly down the staircase to the common room.

James was lounging on the sofa by the fire, seemingly deep in conversation with Sirius. He had obviously had one eye on the staircase to the girls' dormitory because as soon as Lily appeared he jumped up from his seat, clapped Sirius on the shoulder and made his way over to Lily, a grin on his face and his hand automatically going up to his hair.

'Evening, Lily,' James said in a slightly less formal manner than in his last conversation with Lily. 'I was beginning to think you'd had second thoughts about this evening,'

'Sorry I'm late, I lost my wand and then Lucinda kept me chatting,' Lily replied, rearranging the books in her arms, avoiding looking at James.

James grinned at her awkward, blatantly obvious, nervousness. 'Let me carry some of those... before you drop them all. You won't be needing them though, not for what I have planned.'

'Excuse me?' Lily stated indignantly, her cheeks rouging as the thoughts about James she had shook from her mind only moments ago came back to her. 'What is that supposed to mean?'

Laughing at Lily's panicked face, James took the books out of her hands before answering. 'Just that my way of teaching involves more practical learning; you don't learn anything from poring over those boring old text books. Come on, let's go, we're wasting valuable learning time.'

James made his way to the portrait hole, looking back at the other Marauders and nodding his goodbye to them as he opened the entrance to the common room. Lily hesitated for a moment before following him. James held the portrait open for Lily then followed her out onto the seventh floor corridor.

'Do you really believe that you can't learn _anything_ from books, Potter?' Lily asked as she waited for James to lead the way to wherever they were going, the annoyance of his dismissive attitude to her text books evident in her voice. 'They are highly valuable learning tools, without them we wouldn't know what incantations and wand movements to use for what spell.'

With an affectionate grin on his face, James strolled purposefully down the empty, silent seventh floor corridor, heading to the disused classroom right at the end, deliberately not looking back at Lily. 'Okay, I'll give you that - they are good for finding out the incantation and wand movement, but once you know that they are very little use.'

'What about the theory behind the spells? We wouldn't know that without text books,' Lily stated vehemently, determined to prove her point to Potter.

James snorted at this. 'The theory behind the spells?! Why do we need to know the theory behind the spells?'

'Of course we need to know the theory, it is very important. why else would we be tested on it in our exams!' Lily replied heatedly, feeling her anger rise at James's attitude to their school work.

'We only need to know that to pass the exams, to show we have an understanding of the importance of the spell, which I think is common sense really. Knowing the theory and history behind the spell won't make you any more adept at performing it.'

Despite her disagreement to his comments, Lily held her tongue and made no reply as they continued down the corridor, not wanting to lose her temper and start an argument with James before he had even started the first tutoring session. As they reached the end of the corridor, James opened the door to the abandoned classroom and held it open for Lily to enter. The classroom was small in comparison to the ones they usually used for lessons and it was obvious it hadn't been used as a classroom for many years. Dust covered desks stood stacked along one wall of the room and rickety looking chairs along the opposite wall. Long forgotten instructions were written on the blackboard at the front of the classroom, barely legible beneath the layers of dust. It looked as though someone had already been there to prepare for the evening's session though; the lanterns had been lit prior to their arrival, filling the room with a warm glow. A desk and two chairs had been wiped clean and positioned in the middle of the room and a jug of fresh pumpkin juice and two glasses stood in the centre of the desk next to a lidded box.

'It all comes from the mind, Lily,' James said suddenly, following on from what he had said previously, shutting the door behind him and smiling at Lily as she took in her surroundings. 'If it was just about saying words and waving a wand any old Muggle would be able to perform magic if they had the right book.'

Lily raised her eyebrows, surprised by this insightful statement. 'I'd never thought of it like that,' she stated, grudgingly admitting that James made a good point. She still didn't agree that learning the theory of spells wasn't important but she ignored her instinct to argue her point, deciding that she could learn the theoretical stuff in her own time. Not knowing what else to do, Lily sat down.

'Well, I'm just going to be teaching you how to actually perform the spells, if you feel it's important you can read up on the theory later,' James said as if he had just read her mind, putting Lily's books on the table as he sat down next to her and poured them both a glass of pumpkin juice. 'I think the best way to do this would be for you to show me what you've already learnt and the spells you are already confident performing. Let's start with the basics.'

Lily looked on in puzzled silence as James pulled the lid off the box and produced a small rock, a large book and a tortoise from inside.

'What on earth have you brought those for?' Lily asked suspiciously.

'For you to Transfigure, Lily,' he answered simply before taking a swig of pumpkin juice.

'Why? How is that going to help me? I'm struggling with human transfiguration... those items are not human!' Lily looked at James as if he was crazy, starting to think she was crazy too for thinking this tutoring was a good idea.

James grinned briefly, running his hand through his already messy hair, but quickly turned his expression serious. 'Like I said, Lily, we'll start with the basics. I know you can Transfigure all these items, and going back to the basics can help you go forward to confidently performing the more complex spells.' Lily raised her eyebrows disbelievingly at James, to which he replied, 'Trust me, Lily.'

Lily wasn't sure she would ever trust James Potter – trust had to be earned and he had never before given her reason to trust him. But, she thought, she was here now and she might as well get on with it; after all, it couldn't make her any worse at Transfiguration.

'Okay, what exactly do you want me to Transfigure the rock into?' Lily asked sceptically, pulling her wand out of the waistband of her skirt.

Without standing up, James picked up the rock and put it at his feet. 'Well, I think a nice footstool would be good, much more comfortable than this. Do you think you can do that?' James leant back in his chair and crossed his feet onto the rock and his arms over his chest.

'Of course I can.' Lily replied curtly. Who did James Potter think he was, arrogantly lounging back in that chair patronizing her? She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly then with great determination pointed her wand at the rock. With a quick swish of the wand the rock vanished and James's feet were now comfortably rested on a plush, cushioned foot stool.

James ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. 'Well done, Lily, a grand footstool, and a marvellous bit of non-verbal Transfiguration. I'm still not comfortable though. How about you Transfigure that book into a nice plump cushion for me to lean on. A nice red one.'

Lily could feel her anger rising and didn't trust herself to reply to James's condescending comments. So, concentrating on the spell in her head, she waved her wand at the book. Immediately the book was replaced with a luxurious, red cushion with gold tassles at the corners.

'Perfect!' James stated with a wide grin, grabbing the cushion and putting it behind his back, fidgeting exaggeratedly.

'What do you want me to turn the tortoise into? A crown?' Lily asked with more than a hint of sarcasm.

'I was going to ask for a bowl, but I like the idea of a crown, I think it would suit me.'

Lily grinned in a falsely sweet way before turning her wand on the tortoise and easily transfiguring it. 'Actually, Potter, I think this head wear is much more appropriate for you.'

'Thank you, Lily,' James said through his laughter as Lily placed the red and gold, velvet jester's hat on his head.

'Perfect!' Lily mimicked James's earlier words with a smirk. 'I was right; it suits you much better than a crown would.'

'I think you're right, Lily.' James said still laughing. 'Ok, I think we're ready to start on some human transfiguration now.'

'Are you sure, Potter? You have all the luxuries you need now, do you?'

'I think I do, Lily, I'm quite comfortable now thank you. You did very well.'

'Oh, I'm so glad,' Lily said sarcastically before taking a sip of pumpkin juice. 'So, let's see how good your teaching skills really are! You've proved you're very good at condescending me while watching me perform magic I could already do... now for you to get me to perform human transfiguration!'

'Ah, Lily, condescending you is all part of my tutoring style... It's the reason I will succeed where old McGonagall hasn't! For some reason I get you riled up, so I think you'll find it much easier to Transfigure me than you do Transfiguring any of your friends, purely because you'll put some passion into it.' James jumped up from his seat, taking off the jester's hat and throwing it onto the table. 'Now for me to be proved right – why don't we start simple and turn my gorgeous hair red.'

Lily snorted as James ran his hand through his hair. To Lily's eyes his mop of hair was far from gorgeous. She did think he may have point though; she'd enjoy making him look silly and so she would probably find it easier to perform the spells to do so. His explanation for his persistent arrogance annoyed her however, what a load of rubbish! It would be far more believable if he wasn't so pompous twenty four seven.

'The incantation for any hair switching/changing spells is "Capillatio" followed by what you want to Transfigure it to.'

'I know the incantations, Potter... I learnt them from my text books!' Lily stated irritably before pointing her wand at James. 'Capillatio rutilus.'

James's hair briefly turned a dark auburn shade before immediately returning to his normal jet black colour. Lily sighed in frustration. 'Try again, this time with more of a flick on the second part of the incantation.'

Lily tried again several times, really exaggerating the flick of her wand but to no avail, each time James's hair vaguely changed colour before instantly returning to normal. After each attempt James offered advice on her wand work and incantation pronunciation. When none of this appeared to help James suggested trying a different colour, suggested green with the idea that he would hate having his hair the colour of Slytherin. There was slight improvement with this suggestion; James's hair turned green for a few seconds before gradually returning to normal. After the fifth time of this happening Lily slammed her wand down onto the table.

'I give up! I'm never going to be able to do this.'

'Of course you will, Lily. You're a very talented witch.' James assured her. 'That magic you performed earlier was perfect! And you'll perfect human transfiguration too.'

'I doubt that, Potter. I may as well give up Transfiguration now,' Lily stated sadly.

'Don't be daft. I won't let you do that! Just see today as a kind of warm up session, tomorrow will be much better,' James asserted with a reassuring smile. 'Lily, I reckon that by the end of this week I can make you so good at Transfiguration that you'll be able to perform a complete human Transfiguration spell.'

'Really? You've seen how bad I am! You think you're that good of a teacher do you?'

'I don't think, I know. I bet by the end of the week you'll be able to transfigure me into a...' James paused here, a thoughtful look on his face, apparently considering what Lily would change him into, '... a stag!'

Lily laughed. 'A stag? You think I'll be able to turn you into a stag by the end of the week when I can't even turn your hair a different colour?' James nodded, a huge grin on his face. 'You either have a lot of faith in my ability to learn and your ability to teach, or you are totally insane! If you manage to teach me to turn you successfully into a stag then I will come to your party on Saturday.'

'I thought you were coming anyway. Alison said that Lucinda made you agree to come to give her moral support for her date.' James's face fell slightly as he continued. 'She also said you did so reluctantly.'

Lily scowled at the thought of Lucinda's interference to her exam revision. 'Yes, she did. And I was reluctant, I am reluctant, but...' Lily blushed. 'If you can manage to teach me that... I'll come to your party as your date!'

Unexpectedly, James did not cheer up at this but smiled sadly. 'Lily... I don't want you to be my date, certainly not as a result of a bet. Believe it or not, that's not why I agreed to tutor you. I just want you to have the confidence to perform the magic that I know you're more than capable of.'

The room fell silent, both James and Lily avoiding the other's eye. After a moment, James gathered Lily's books and headed towards the door. 'I think we are done for this evening, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow.'


End file.
